Touchscreens have replaced traditional buttons on mobile devices and even car dashboards. While they are more convenient, it introduced one new annoyance: dirty fingerprint marks and smudges.
That’s what General Motors (GM) is trying to address with its new patent. Fingerprint smudges can be really annoying, especially on a car’s infotainment screen. It could be really distracting, and if worse comes to worse, it may lead to accidents.
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The new GM patent will have touchscreens clean themselves. But, the question is, how will it work?
It will apparently integrate violet pixels among the standard blue, red, and green pixels on the panel. Much like an ultraviolet light, the emitted light by the violet pixel will not be apparent to the human eye, so it won’t affect the colors you see. Moreover, the special display will also make use of an invisible metal-oxide-based photocatalyst coating.
Now, this two technologies will create a chemical reaction. The photocatalyst coating, when exposed to ultraviolet light, will create a chemical reaction using moisture already present in the air.
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During this process, the organic materials left on the screen by your fingerprints, as well as grease and oil residue from your fingers, will be broken down. Once the process is done, everything just dies out and disappears.
But don’t get too excited, though, as GM is yet to make an announcement if they will pursue this project. Still, the concept looks pretty realistic for it to become available in the market in the years to come.
Via: Gizmodo